{"product_id":"locklands-isbn-9781984820686","title":"Locklands","description":"\u003cb\u003eNATIONAL BESTSELLER • The jaw-dropping conclusion to the acclaimed Founders Trilogy, from the Hugo–nominated author of \u003ci\u003eFoundryside\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eShorefall\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e“It’s so rare to love every single book in a trilogy, to admire the aim, precision, and storytelling stamina this much.”—\u003ci\u003eThe New York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times, \u003c\/i\u003eThe Quill to Live\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSancia, Clef, and Berenice have gone up against long odds in the past. But the war they’re fighting now is one even they can’t win.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis time, they’re not facing robber-baron elites or even an immortal hierophant, but an entity whose intelligence is spread over half the globe—one that uses the magic of scriving to control not just objects but human minds. \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003eTo fight it, they’ve used scriving technology to transform themselves and their allies into an army—a society—unlike anything humanity has seen before. With its strength at their backs, they’ve freed a handful of their enemy’s hosts from servitude, and even defeated some of its fearsome, reality-altering dreadnoughts. \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003eYet despite their efforts, their enemy marches on. Implacable. Unstoppable. \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003eNow, as their opponent closes in on its true prize—an ancient doorway, long buried, that leads to the chambers at the center of creation itself—Sancia and her friends glimpse a last opportunity to stop this unbeatable foe. To do so, they’ll have to unlock the centuries-old mystery of scriving’s origins, embark on a desperate mission into the heart of their enemy’s power, and pull off the most daring heist they’ve ever attempted. \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003eBut their adversary might have a spy in their ranks—and a last trick up its sleeve. \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003eAnd to have a chance at victory, Sancia, Clef, and Berenice will have to make a sacrifice beyond anything that’s come before.\u003cb\u003ePraise for\u003ci\u003e Locklands\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Compelling, full of action, and has characters to care about . . . \u003ci\u003eLocklands \u003c\/i\u003ecompletes another excellent trilogy from an author producing some of the most original and compelling fantasy in the genre.”\u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003eNew York Journal of Books\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Bennett provides a poignant but uplifting conclusion to his spellbinding, fast-paced Founders Trilogy, expanding the complex world with more innovative concepts and new characters.”\u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e (starred review)\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“A thrills-and-spills conclusion to the adventures of Sancia Grado. Bennett concludes his Founders trilogy . . . with characteristically high-spirited mayhem. Great fun, with nonstop action.”\u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews \u003c\/i\u003e(starred review)\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Gods collide in the high octane finale to Bennett’s epic fantasy Founders Trilogy. . . . Fans will find this a satisfying end.”\u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePraise for \u003ci\u003eFoundryside\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eShorefall\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Absolutely riveting . . . I felt fully, utterly engaged by the ideas, actually in love with the core characters . . . and in awe of Bennett’s craft. I went to bed late reading it and woke up early to finish it.”\u003cb\u003e—Amal El-Mohtar, \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times Book Review,\u003c\/i\u003e on \u003ci\u003eFoundryside\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Another stunning novel that shows exactly what this genre can do and why we love it . . . As packed as this book is, I still could’ve spent another four hundred pages in [Robert Jackson] Bennett’s story.”\u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003eTordotcom\u003c\/i\u003e, on \u003ci\u003eShorefall\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Endlessly inventive . . . Even when it’s dark, this story is a joy.”\u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003eVulture\u003c\/i\u003e, on \u003ci\u003eFoundryside\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Prepare for ancient mysteries, innovative magic, and heart-pounding heists.”\u003cb\u003e—Brandon Sanderson, on \u003ci\u003eFoundryside\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Complex characters, magic that is tech and vice versa, a world bound by warring trade dynasties: Bennett will leave you in awe once you remember to breathe!”\u003cb\u003e—Tamora Pierce, on \u003ci\u003eFoundryside\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eRobert Jackson Bennett\u003c\/b\u003e is the author of \u003ci\u003eFoundryside, Shorefall,\u003c\/i\u003e and the Divine Cities trilogy, which was a Hugo Award finalist in the Best Series category. The first book in the series, \u003ci\u003eCity of Stairs\u003c\/i\u003e, was also a finalist for the World Fantasy and Locus Awards, and the second, \u003ci\u003eCity of Blades\u003c\/i\u003e, was a finalist for the World Fantasy, Locus, and British Fantasy Awards. His previous novels, which include \u003ci\u003eAmerican Elsewhere\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eMr. Shivers\u003c\/i\u003e, have received the Edgar Award, the Shirley Jackson Award, and the Philip K. Dick Citation of Excellence. He lives in Austin with his family.\u003cb\u003e1\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eAre you ready?\u003c\/i\u003e whispered a voice. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBerenice opened her eyes. The morning sunlight reflected brightly off the ocean, and her vision adjusted slowly, the forms of the city walls and the ramparts and the coastal batteries calcifying in the glimmering light. She’d been meditating so deeply it took her a moment to remember—\u003ci\u003eAm I in Old Tevanne? Or somewhere else?\u003c\/i\u003e—but then her senses fully returned to her, and she saw. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eGrattiara: a tiny fortress enclave balanced atop a thread of stone stretching into the Durazzo Sea, all ocean-gray walls and cloudwhite towers and wheeling gulls. It wasn’t quite a town as much as a residue of civilization clinging to the battlements, the homes and huts like barnacles spreading across the hull of a ship. She watched as the little fishing boats trundled up to the piers, their sails pale and luminescent. They reminded her faintly of bat wings catching the first rays of dawn. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Hell,” Berenice said quietly. “It’s almost pretty.” \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eAlmost.\u003c\/i\u003e Claudia moved to stand next to her at the balcony, her eyes hard and sharp under her dark metal helmet. Her voice whispered in the back of Berenice’s thoughts, quiet but clear: \u003ci\u003eHow far we've fallen, to find a little shithole like this pretty.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eYes\u003c\/i\u003e, sighed Berenice. \u003ci\u003eAnd yet, it's up to us to save it.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eClaudia picked her teeth with a length of wood. \u003ci\u003eOr at least the people here, anyways.\u003c\/i\u003e She flicked her toothpick away. \u003ci\u003eSo—you ready?\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eI don't know. Maybe. How do I look?\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eLike a grim warrior queen,\u003c\/i\u003e said Claudia. She grinned. \u003ci\u003eMaybe a little \u003c\/i\u003etoo\u003ci\u003e grim. This is a Morsini fortress, mind. The governor might not take to an imtimidating woman.\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eIt's going to be a grim conversation. But I'll make sure to do a lot of smiling and bowing\u003c\/i\u003e, she added acidly. She adjusted the way her cuirass hung on her shoulders, feeling the flex and bend of the pauldrons, then plucked at the leather shirt at her neck to let some of the humidity out. Their armor was a far sight from anything like a lorica, as it only covered critical exposures while leaving the joints free to move, but it was still hot as hell in the Grattiaran sun. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eIt'll have to do,\u003c\/i\u003e Berenice said. She slung her espringal over her back, then checked to make sure her scrived rapier was sheathed at her side. \u003ci\u003eAre the espringals rigged up properly?\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eWe'll have to get within line of sight with them,\u003c\/i\u003e said Claudia. She pointed to a small plate on her right pauldron, then the same on Berenice’s armor. \u003ci\u003eBut they'll come to us when we call them.\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eGood.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eStill think it's wise to bring weapons to this chat? I mean—they're going to make us disarm before we see the governor, yeah? \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eOh, almost certainly, \u003c\/i\u003esaid Berenice. \u003ci\u003eBut being asked to disarm is a terrific opportunity to show off how many armaments you're packing.\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eHow cynical. \u003c\/i\u003eClaudia’s grin flashed again. \u003ci\u003eI approve.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe winds shifted, and the reek of rot wormed into Berenice’s nostrils—undoubtedly from the refugee camp sprawling beyond the city’s fortifications. She slipped out her spyglass and glassed the camps on the hills to the northwest. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt all made for a cruelly pointed contrast: the town of Grattiara remained more or less impeccable, its scrived coastal batteries huge and hulking along the sea, the towers of the innermost fortifications still tall and elegant; but mere yards from them lay field upon field of ragged tents and improvised shelters and spoiled waters—a reminder of how much the world had changed beyond this tiny fortress town. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eClaudia whispered: \u003ci\u003eWe've got movement, Capo.\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBerenice turned to look. A small group of men were making their way down the stairs from the central keep’s gates, all colorfully dressed in shades of blue and red. She studied the keep above, its towers bedecked with espringal and shrieker batteries—scrived models she knew were at least four years out of date. And the walls, of course, weren’t scrived at all, just brick and mortar and decades of patching: no sigils, no strings, no arguments embedded in them to trick them into being preternaturally durable or strong. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Once it gets here,” she murmured aloud, “it’s going to tear through this place like a hot knife through eel fat.” \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eYeah, \u003c\/i\u003esaid Claudia. She peered out at the refugee camp. \u003ci\u003eAnd all those people are going to die—or worse.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eHow long do we have, again?\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eLast estimate was two weeks, \u003c\/i\u003eshe said. \u003ci\u003eIt'll have to go through Balfi to the north, and that should slow it down, we hope. We should have at least a week before it's at the gates here, Capo.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBerenice wondered whether those estimates were accurate. If she had a massive army, and intended to use it to annihilate everything in its path—what road would she take, which rivers, and how fast would she move? \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eHow tired I am\u003c\/i\u003e, she thought, \u003ci\u003eof such grisly questions. \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eYou still haven't answered me, Ber,\u003c\/i\u003e said Claudia gently. \u003ci\u003eAre you ready?\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eGetting there,\u003c\/i\u003e she said. She walked to where the two other members of her team sat on a small bench before the end of the stairs. Diela, the younger and smaller of the two, popped to attention immediately, standing up so fast her helmet rattled on her head. Vittorio stood languidly, smirking as he unfolded his tall, lean form to stand beside her. He held a heavy wooden crate in his arms, about three feet wide and tall, built of plain wood with a hinged top fastened shut. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“All good?” said Berenice. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eI'm ready to put this thing down and get out of the sun, Capo,\u003c\/i\u003e whispered Vittorio in the back of her mind. He made eye contact with her, and his smile grew. \u003ci\u003eYou sure they're going to let me into the keep with this?\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “They will,” she said. “Remember, both of you—this is purely a diplomatic operation. Just keep your eyes open, keep your gear tight and accessible—and if they make a move on us, remember your training.” \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eIf it comes to that, fighting off a bunch of merchant house thugs should be easier than what we're used to,\u003c\/i\u003e said Vittorio, now grinning. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDiela blinked beside him, and Berenice felt a slow anxiety building in the back of the girl’s thoughts. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eIt probably will not come to that, \u003c\/i\u003eBerenice said to the girl. \u003ci\u003eAgain, this is a diplomatic mission. But even if you haven't seen fighting, Diela, you still know what we know, and you've seen what we've seen. I have no doubt you'll succeed.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDiela nodded nervously, and said,\u003ci\u003e Yes, Capo.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eIt's time, Capo,\u003c\/i\u003e said Claudia. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBerenice looked up. The men from the keep were close now. She put on her helmet, adjusting it so her eyes looked through its visor properly, and strapped it tight. \u003ci\u003eEight years I’ve waged this war, she thought, and I still can’t get one of these goddamned things to fit right. \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eShe stood there, tall and assured in her dark armor, and watched as the Morsini men descended the stairs. Once men like this would have frightened or at least worried her, but those days were long since gone: there had been too many battles, and far too much death and horror, for merchant house men to haunt her thoughts. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eI’m ready, \u003c\/i\u003eshe thought to herself. \u003ci\u003eI’m ready for this. \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eYet she felt a flicker of insecurity, sensing an absence like she’d forgotten something critical. She pulled her spyglass from her pocket and peered through it once more, though this time she glassed the distant ocean, far to the south. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAt first she saw nothing but sea, yet then she spotted it—a tiny dot in the distance, just on the horizon. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eSancia and Clef,\u003c\/i\u003e she thought. \u003ci\u003eKeeping their distance. But they’re there. She’s there. \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eShe heard footsteps, and quickly stowed the glass away. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eGod, my love. How I wish you were with me here today.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA voice from the stairs, prim and assured: “The governor will see you now, General Grimaldi.” \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Thank you,” Berenice said. “Please lead the way.”Author of Foundryside and Shorefall","brand":"Del Rey","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46305051279589,"sku":"NP9781984820686","price":20.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9781984820686.jpg?v=1767731656","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/locklands-isbn-9781984820686","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}